Facebook: Soon To Become An Online Bank?

Facebook is morphing into a central bank, some voices say. Why? Well it all started when the social giant rolled out Facebook Credits – an easy and safe way to buy stuff you like off Facebook. Your money would have been transformed into Facebook Credits and from there on the shopping spree was free to begin.

You could go online and buy imaginary things that would benefit your games (like in Mafia Wars) or your virtual social life (buying virtual flowers for friends far away). The idea was interesting enough, but pretty worthless in real life. But things have been evolving fast. For example, Warner Brothers enabled movie fans to watch certain films like “Harry Potter” online for the “price” of 30 Facebook Credits. Will Credits become the new Internet money in a short while? Probably, as it seems the business is very profitable.

Facebook won’t reply to the comments asking how much money they are making with Credits, but lucky for us there are research firms like eMarketer to provide estimates. Their conclusion was that Facebook made a total of $470 million revenue in 2011 or 11% of its total earnings. Advertising is still Facebook’s number one source of money, but in a short while, things might just change. Who knows!?